[U21 Qual] Late Cigarini strike saves Azzurrini

Italy's Under-21's needed a late goal from midfielder Luca Cigarini to claim a hard-fought 2-1 victory against the Faroe Islands in Trento.

Pierluigi Casiraghi's side looked on course for a comfortable Group 1 victory when Andrea Russotto struck on 26 minutes, firing in after a superb defence-splitting pass from Sebastian Giovinco.

The visitors soon restored parity, however, when Einar Hansen caught Azzurrini goalkeeper Andrea Consigli out of position from 40 metres and it set up a frenetic second half.

Giovinco almost made it 2-1 but his effort hit the post and instead it was Cigarini that took the honour with a powerful effort from outside the area after the Faroese defence had failed to clear a Giovinco corner.

The win maintains the Azzurrini's 100% start to the qualification campaign for the 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championships.

Group 1 Results:
Wednesday 6 June
Croatia 3-2 Greece
Albania 1-0 Faroe Islands
Friday 7 September
Italy 2-1 Faroe Islands
Saturday 8 September
Albania 1-0 Croatia
Azerbaijan 0-2 Greece

Group 1 Standings:
[1] ITA - PLD: 02 - PTS: 06
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[2] GRE - PLD: 03 - PTS: 06
[3] CRO - PLD: 03 - PTS: 06
[4] ALB - PLD: 03 - PTS: 06
[5] FAR - PLD: 03 - PTS: 00
[6] AZE - PLD: 02 - PTS: 00

Group 1 Fixtures:
Tuesday 11 September
Albania v Italy
Croatia v Azerbaijan
Wednesday 12 September
Faroe Islands v Greece

Source: UEFA